Artificial hearts are on the way

THE first fully artificial hearts could be tested in humans within five years. Two devices which would work long-term are ready to be tried in animals this year and human trials could be under way by 2003, say scientists. Dr Alan Snyder, of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, said the new hearts could be left in the body and would be hidden from view.

EATING spinach and sweetcorn regularly may guard against the most common cause of registered blindness - macular disease. Research shows that a substance called zeaxanthin found in spinach, and lutein found in sweetcorn may give protection. Age-related macular degeneration affects 300,000 people in Britain. In the majority of cases it is caused by leaking blood vessels in the eye and results in a gradual loss of vision.

A DRUG which medically castrates sex offenders has been tried on a group of men. They were given monthly injections of the synthetic hormone triptorelin which chokes off the flow of testosterone that drives male sexual maturation and desire. All the 24 sex criminals who took the hormone for a year reported that they were free from the sexual fantasies. Researcher Ariel Rosler, of Hadassah-Hebrew University medical centre in Jerusalem, said: "We have not seen this with any kind of chemical treatment used for paedophilia."

SCIENTISTS have come up with an idea to get mice to produce human sperm. The proposal by Roger Short of the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, has caused concern among fertility experts. But Dr Short insists the idea could help infertile men.

NHS patients could soon be issued with special smart cards which could contain essential medical information. The cards would allow medical records to be transferred between health professionals. They would be kept by the patient, with the information would also be stored on a central computer.

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